Unearthing the secret talent of Georginio Wijnaldum

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Georginio Wijnaldum – scorer of four goals against Norwich, six altogether from nine Premier League matches, from midfield.

What a find.

I say this because rather bizarrely I have seen at least one local press story now claiming that buying Wijnaldum was some sort of scoop that justifies Newcastle United’s daft transfer strategy.

That his signing was some kind of sleight of hand that suggests Newcastle’s landing of the PSV midfielder was down to something more than offering the right wages and transfer fee.

As though United had some big advantage in their scouting process and grabbed him before anybody else spotted this unknown…

The national press have been just as bad, when he scored the four against Norwich it was all a bit ‘where has he come from’!

This is a player who was one of the stars of the 2014 World Cup, helping Holland to finish third.

Captained PSV to win the Dutch League.

Named player of the season in Holland for 2014/15.

He has an extraordinary goalscoring record for a midfielder, having now scored:

6 in his last 9 league starts

24 in his last 50

38 in his last 75

47 in his last 107

61 in his last 141

Remarkable consistency and this doesn’t include goals scored in cup competitions and for his country.

Only 24 years old, he has a whole lot more ahead of him.

Signed for around £15m, Newcastle had to pay the going rate for somebody who had been a big success in Holland, just like Swansea did with Wilfried Bony.

No guarantees Wijnaldum would be a success in the Premier League but he had/has every chance.

It is no surprise that in some matches the Dutch international has been anonymous for Newcastle, the overly defensive tactics employed by Steve McClaren helped stifle Wijnaldum in a number of games.

Little wonder he has blossomed more with the enterprise shown in the last three games.

The biggest potential problem is Newcastle’s total lack of a playmaker and as a secondary worry, no effective winger at the minute, though hopefully Thauvin will show us more in time.

Watching Wijnaldum playing for Holland and PSV. it is obvious what kind of player he is.

He makes great runs and gets on the end of things in and around the box, a goalscoring midfielder!

Not that he doesn’t have other skills but this is the one thing that makes him special.

The challenge is whether his teammates are up to the task of having enough decent possession and then the ability to put the ball in the right place for Wijnaldum?

I have also seen some daft articles comparing how he is doing with Yohan Cabaye – they are completely different players, you might as well compare him with Chancel Mbemba.

If only Newcastle had spent the Thauvin money on Yohan Cabaye (back to NUFC’s daft transfer policy again…), you could be looking at the perfect set-up, the central midfielder/playmaker that we are desperately short of, picking out the runs of Gini Wijnaldum.

Sadly in the meantime we are stuck with the combined talents of Colback, Anita and Tiote.

Here’s hoping that in January the crack Newcastle United scouting team can unearth another secret/unheard of midfielder, though this time a playmaker, then convince Mike Ashley to shell out £15m or whatever it takes to bring him in.

Ignoring the defence for a minute…that one signing could help turn Newcastle into one tasty proposition.